AIRSHOW NEWS: RAF’s First Jet Powered bomber set to display at Wings & Wheels | UK Airshow Information and Photography - Flightline UK Select Page AIRSHOW NEWS: RAF’s First Jet Powered bomber set to display at Wings & Wheels Posted by Flightline UK | Jul 31, 2014 | Civilian Organised Airshows and Trade Events , Dunsfold , Warbirds and Classic Jets | 0 | The world’s only air-worthy Canberra PR9 will be celebrating its 65th anniversary and displaying at Wings & Wheels for the first time on Saturday 23rd and Sunday 24th August as part of the Midair Squadron’s display. The Midair Squadron’s Canberra XH134 has been restored with an authentic paint scheme which represents the markings worn when the type entered service. Visitors will get to view its all-over silver paint scheme, complete with tri-colour roundels, fin-flash and large black ‘XH134’ markings under each wing, as it displays both days at the Aerodrome in Surrey. Jamie McAllister, Event Director comments: “We are thrilled to confirm the Canberra XH134’s participation at Wings & Wheels.

It is the first time we have welcomed the jet to Dunsfold and look forward to the team demonstrating its phenomenal jet power to our visiting crowds.” The Canberra entered service with the RAF in 1951 as its first jet powered bomber. It was unarmed and relied on highspeed to escape enemy fighters. During its first ten years of service, the Canberra broke nineteen flight records and three altitude records including winning the London to New Zealand Air Race in 1953 with a world speed record and the first jet flight over the North Pole in 1954. The Canberra is believed to be the world’s longest serving bomber and most recently provided support during conflicts in the Balkans and Middle East. And, because of its ability to fly at nearly 60,000 ft., it was also used for clandestine photo reconnaissance work during the Cold War. The ‘English Electric’ Canberra was sold to air forces all over the world and a total 1,347 were built. The aircraft retired from active duty in 2006.

Visitors to Wings & Wheels can also enjoy the world famous Red Arrows, Battle of Britain Memorial Flight (Lancaster, Spitfire & Hurricane), Vulcan, Chinook, the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum’s (CWHM) prized Avro Lancaster and a host of other modern and historic aircraft during the five hour flying displays. For four and two wheeled fans, supercars and classic and vintage icons put on an awe inspiring display of power and speed on the Top Gear track in a two hour auto spectacular from Brooklands Museum. The show also includes over 25 fixed-price catering outlets, 2 bars, hospitality facilities, free on-site parking, public camping, lost children point, disabled access, informative show commentary, opportunities to meet the pilots, official show merchandise and grandstand seating. Tickets start from £20 for adults, £45 for a family (2 adults and 3 children aged 5 – 15yrs), £6 for children aged between 5 and 15yrs and under 5s are free. Hospitality packages start from £150 per person, weekend passes, grandstand tickets and camping are also available.

For more information visit or to book standard tickets call 08712 305 572. Wings & Wheels is promoted by Dunsfold Park Limited and in 2014 will be assisting the fundraising efforts of Brooklands Museum Trust and Help for Heroes. Share: Early RAF jet planes of the 1940s and 50s. - YouTube Early RAF jet planes of the 1940s and 50s. Want to watch this again later? Sign in to add this video to a playlist. Need to report the video? Sign in to report inappropriate content. Rating is available when the video has been rented. This feature is not available right now. Please try again later. Uploaded on Nov 1, 2008 Early RAF jet planes of the 1940s and 50s. I have not included all of the RAF jets of the 40s and 50s just my favourites starting with the Gloster Meteor the first operational allied jet fighter. The Meteor entered RAF squadron service beginning in July 1944 and was used to intercept German V-1 flying bombs.

Meteor IIIs flew to the Continent in January 1945 and operated out of the Low Countries with the 2nd Tactical Air Force until the end of the war in early May 1945. They performed ground strafing attacks there is some war time footage of this shown in the video. The next jets to appear in the video in the order that you see them are the de Havilland vampire also developed during the war but did not see any combat it holds two key distinctions in the history of aviation. It was the first jet-powered aircraft to successfully land on a moving aircraft carrier (the Sea Vampire) and was the first single-jet-powered aircraft in British service. Next the The de Havilland Venom FB.1 went into service with RAF Germany in the summer of 1952. The Hawker Hunter follows that it first entered service with the RAF in July 1954. Then we get into the bombers the first being the English Electric Canberra a really successful design it remained in service with the Royal Air Force until 23 June 2006, 57 years after its first flight.

it was also one of the few foreign aircraft to be purchased by the Americans with the designation B57. Then come the V bombers. The Vickers Valiant was the first of the V-bombers and also the first to see combat, during the Anglo-French-Israeli Suez intervention in October and November 1956. Next in the video is the Handley-Page Victor it entered RAF service with Number 232 Operational Conversion Unit (OCU) in November 1957. Although the Victor never fired a shot in anger, it did see action in the tanker role during the Falklands war. The second combat operations of the Victor took place in the first Gulf War. Following Saddam Hussein's invasion of Kuwait. Eight Victors provided tanker support. The Victors flew 229 sorties, providing refueling services for US Navy aircraft along with the RAF fleet. Victors also provided tanker support for air patrols over Iraq into 1993. The last Victor unit, Number 55 Squadron, was disbanded in October 1993.

The last aircraft shown in the video is the Avro Vulcan it was the second of the V-bombers to enter service into service with the Number 230 Operational Conversion Unit (OCU) in early 1957. They only saw combat at the end of their service in the Falklands war during the 7 black buck raids which also involved the Victor tankers. The Avro Vulcan performed its last flight in bomber service in December 1982 and as tankers they were retired in the spring of 1984. For anybody that's interested in 20th century military and home front collecting have a look at my web site to see my collection.There are also more videos plus speeches and news broadcasts of the 20th century. Plus veteran recording. And don't miss the veterans section look for the poppy. RAF - Aircraft between 1946 and present Aircraft between 1946 and present Picture: Lightning landing.

Aircraft types first flown between 1946 and present - Either used or tested by the Royal Air Force Post World War II, Cold War 1945 –1991, Present De Havilland Canada Chipmunk UK - 1946 - (Trainer) Handley Page Hastings - 1946 (Four-engined piston transport) Handley Page Marathon - 1946 (Four-engined piston navigation trainer) Percival Prentice - 1946 (Single-engined piston trainer) Auster Antarctic UK – 1947 Boulton Paul Balliol UK – 1947 Bristol Sycamore - 1947 (Single-engined communications helicopter) North American Sabre -1947 (Single-engined jet fighter/interceptor) Vickers Valetta - 1947 (Twin-engined (piston) transport) Avro Athena UK – 1948 Hiller HT2 - 1948 (Single-engined land rescue helicopter) Saro Skeeter - 1948 (Helicopter) Avro Shackleton - 1949 (Four-engined piston maritime patrol

) De Havilland Comet UK - 1949 - (Arliner) De Havilland Venom - 1949 (Single-engined jet night fighter) English Electric Canberra UK - 1949 - (Bomber) Hawker Typhoon - 1949 (Single-engined piston fighter) Vickers Varsity - 1949 (Twin-engined (piston) crew trainer) Blackburn Beverley UK – 1950 De Havilland Heron - 1950 (Four-engined piston communications) Percival Provost - 1950 (Single-engined piston trainer) Scottish Aviation Pioneer - 1950 (Single-engined piston liaison) Westland Dragonfly - 1950 (Single-engined piston helicopter) Gloster Javelin - 1951 (Twin-engined jet fighter/interceptor) Hawker Hunter - 1951 (Single-engined jet fighter/fighter-bomber) Vickers Valiant - 1951 (Four-engined strategic bomber) Handley Page Victor - 1952 (Four-engined jet strategic bomber) Hunting Percival Pembroke -

 1953 (Twin-engined light transport) Westland Whirlwind - 1953 (Single-engined helicopter) Auster AOP UK – 1954 BAC Jet Provost - 1954 (Single-engined jet trainer) English Electric Lightning - 1954 (Twin-engined jet fighter/interceptor) Lockheed Hercules - 1954 (Four-engined turboprop transport) Supermarine Swift - 1954 (Single-engined jet) Folland Gnat - 1955 (Single-engined jet trainer) Scottish Aviation Twin Pioneer - 1955 (Twin-engined piston transport) Bristol Britannia UK - 1956 (medium/long-range airliner) Blackburn Buccaneer UK - 1958 (strike aircraft) Westland Wessex - 1958 (radio and navigator training) Westland Wessex - 1958 (Twin-engined transport helicopter) Armstrong Whitworth AW.660 - 1959 Beagle Husky - 1960 (Single-engined piston trainer) Hawker Siddeley Kestrel - 196

0 (Single-engined fighter, ground-attack aircraft/experimental) Beagle Basset UK - 1961 RAF Aircraft | Defence of the Realm | Page 2 Defence of the Realm November 27, 2014 The Fairey Hendon holds a unique place in the history of the Royal Air Force, a place that has largely been overshadowed by the events at the end of the 1930s and the fevered introduction of newer designs.

Nevertheless when the Hendon first flew in 1931 it was one of the most advanced night bombers in the world and would be the RAF’s first ever operational all-metal monoplane design. The Hendon emerged as an answer to Air Ministry specification B.19/27 issued in the late 1920s which called for a new heavy night bomber to replace the older types then in service. For British aircraft manufacturer Fairey, their resulting design was a radical departure from the types of aircraft it was used to building. Until then Fairey had largely concentrated on designing and building single engine biplanes. The new design was neither of those things and it is this inexperience that probably delayed the Hendon’s entry in to service. The prototype aircraft first flew in November 1931 and was later designated as Hendon Mk.I. Powered by Bristol Jupiter radial engines that were soon deemed inadequate the decision was then taken to re-engine the aircraft with Rolls-Royce Kestrel III engines similar to those powering Hawker’s series of biplane fighters and light bombers such as the Nimrod and Hind.

The prototype flew with the new engines for the first time the following year but this meant that testing more or less had to begin again thus further pushing back the service entry of the aircraft. Finally, in 1936 construction began on the production model designated by the RAF as the Hendon Mk.II. The production aircraft was powered by a pair of 600hp Rolls-Royce Kestrel VI engines that gave it a top speed of 155mph at 15,000ft and a range of around 1,360 miles. Unfortunately the technological edge the aircraft could have held had been greatly eroded by the time it entered service with even the latest biplane fighters being faster than it. Even under the cover of night it was vulnerable it being a somewhat lumbering brute with a curious habit of flying tail high and this coupled with its large fixed undercarriage meant pilots often remarked of its resemblance to a wheelbarrow when in flight. The Hendon Mk.II could carry a 1,660lb bombload split between a bomb bay in the lower fuselage and two underwing racks.

To put this in to perspective Fairey’s own single engined Swordfish torpedo-bomber could carry 1,610lbs of weapons and that was already in service with the Royal Navy when the Hendon joined the RAF’s ranks. Defensive armament comprised three .303in (7.7mm) machine guns; one each in trainable mounts at the front, dorsal and tail positions. With more sophisticated aircraft either already in production or on the drawing board the plans for a large acquisition soon fell by the wayside and in the end only 14 aircraft were completed and these equipped just one operational unit, No.38 Squadron, and one flight that was subordinate to No.115 Squadron. Plans were already in place to address the problems of the Hendon in 1936 with production intended to switch to 62 Hendon Mk.IIIs complete with, among other improvements, 695hp supercharged Kestrel VI engines and powered turrets. With the threat of war with Nazi Germany looking increasingly likely the RAF felt it had little time to waste on developing the Hendon especially when the far more capable Vickers Wellington was on the verge of entering service.

Thus the Hendon was consigned to just two years in RAF service with No.38 Squadron trading in its aircraft for Wellingtons in November 1938 – barely a year after the last aircraft rolled off the production line. This unloved aircraft was not missed by its crews and to all but the most avid aviation enthusiast the RAF’s first all-metal monoplane is something of an enigma. Crew: 5 November 24, 2014 The Avro Lancaster is an aircraft that has earned itself a glorious place in the annals of aviation history. It was a superb night bomber in its basic form and in its many modified forms it was able to undertake a wide variety of specialist missions including carrying the 22,000lb Grand Slam bomb; the largest conventional weapon dropped from an aircraft in World War II. Given the scale of this legacy it is not surprising therefore that the immediate replacement for the Lancaster has gone largely forgotten.

Work on a heavily upgraded Lancaster actually began in 1943 but the changes became so numerous that it warranted its own in-house designation by Avro as the Type 964 and this was followed by the Royal Air Force who named the aircraft the Lincoln (continuing the tradition of naming bombers after British and Commonwealth cities). The new bomber featured a redesigned wing with increased span and aspect ratio balanced out by a lengthened fuselage. Power came from four of the proven Rolls-Royce Merlin engines in their Merlin 85 guise that produced 1,750hp each. The new airframe coupled with these engines allowed the aircraft to fly faster, higher and further than the Lancaster B.I that was still the mainstay of the RAF bomber force. Perhaps the most significant improvement over the Lancaster came in the form of defensive armament. Gone were the .303 machine guns that proved too short in range and lacking in punch especially when facing the heavily armed Junkers Ju88 and Messerschmitt Bf110 night fighters with their long ranged cannon armament.

The Lincoln was instead given four 50.cal heavy machine guns mounted in pairs in the nose and tail turrets while the dorsal turret was given a pair of 20mm cannons. The tail position had the capability to utilize a primitive air-intercept radar to aid with targeting during night combat; a system that was first used quite successfully on the Lancaster. Offensive armament came in the form of a maximum 14,000lb bombload although it was not beyond the realm of possibility to modify the airframe for some of the Lancaster’s special roles such as the 22,000lbs ‘Grand Slam’ bomb. The Lincoln had an improved Mark IV H2S blind bombing radar that was fitted to some later Lancasters. Delays in the aircraft’s development as a result of technical and material difficulties meant that the aircraft’s expected in-service date kept getting put back. The first prototype made its maiden flight in June 1944 with a second prototype complete with defensive armament flying in November 1944. Production was initiated on the first of a predicted 2,254 airframes shortly after but by then there were those in the Air Ministry questioning the wisdom of such a large order.

The war in Europe was now strongly in favour of the Allies and the RAF’s Lancasters and Halifaxes were striking with increased impunity (and increasingly in daylight hours for greater accuracy following the achievement of Allied air superiority). Therefore the advantages offered by the new Lincoln were no longer such a high priority so plans were made for the aircraft to be made available for the Tiger Force; the RAF’s detachment expected to transfer to the Pacific theatre to join the fight against Japan. More delays both with the aircraft and Tiger Force itself meant that again the Lincoln missed its baptism of fire in World War II when the Japanese surrendered in August 1945. Despite the original plan for the 2,354 airframes, only 537 were completed with production split between Avro and several sub-contractors which was common with wartime aircraft production. Not being able to make its mark on World War II the aircraft was relegated to an almost transitionary role in that it provided the RAF with a link in performance between World War II-era propeller driven bombers and the new Canberra jet bombers. There were two variants that served in the RAF these being the B.I and the B.II.

These were essentially the same aircraft but differed in their powerplants with the B.II being fitted with American-built Packard Merlins to ease the pressure on Rolls-Royce production. Performance was identical and the designation change was for bureaucratic purposes only. The Lincoln would eventually see combat with the RAF firstly bombing rebel Yemeni tribesmen from bases in Aden in 1947. In Malaysia the aircraft flew against Communist insurgents beginning in March 1950. The Lincolns lacked the technology necessary to carry out precision attacks deep in the jungle and with the aircraft’s impending obsolescence the RAF was unwilling to upgrade them. Instead traditional visual bombing techniques were used with mixed success. With very little anti-aircraft weapons available to the insurgents the Lincolns were free to fly as low as 5,000ft when carrying out attacks where they achieved quite accurate results when armed with just a single 4,000lb bomb. The aircraft also carried out strafing attacks against terrorist camps often with the support of single engined aircraft.

The Lincoln is perhaps best known for its role in Kenya where the aircraft fought against the Mau Mau tribesmen where its design heritage resulted in a case of mistaken identity by British journalists who wrongly reported that they were Lancasters not Lincolns. The Lincolns were used to bomb Mau Mau positions in a somewhat confused operational plan. The RAF were trying to destroy the insurgents as per their mission in Kenya but the British government insisted that all bombing missions be preceded by leaflet drops warning of the impending attack in order to limit civilian casualties. The nomadic Mau Mau tribesmen often simply moved their tribe and their weapons away from the target which meant the Lincoln’s primary contribution to the campaign was to blow very large holes in the Kenyan countryside. However when actual strongholds or bases were located a single engined type would fly in and mark the target for a pair of Lincolns that would then carpet bomb the area. Despite the operational difficulties encountered such as ill-prepared base facilities and the problem with dust in the engines (eventually necessitating new dust filters to be fitted) the Lincoln was a powerful weapon available to the British.

The only ever combat loss of a Lincoln occurred on the 12th March 1953 when Avro Lincoln RF531 was shot down by a Russian MiG-15 over East Germany. The aircraft was exercising the RAF’s right to fly through the air corridors to Berlin when it was intercepted and fired upon. The entire crew were killed in the resulting crash and it sparked the practice of further flights by RAF and USAF aircraft to Berlin and back carrying live rounds in their defensive armament thus increasing the chances of further incidents in what was already a very tense situation. The last Lincolns were withdrawn from RAF service in 1963, the aircraft forever lived in the shadow of its Lancaster forebear and the new futuristic jet bombers such as the Canberra and Vickers Valiant. It did serve a useful purpose however in that it meant that the leaner post-war RAF had a new-build aircraft that incorporated all the lessons of that conflict even if those lessons were now somewhat irrelevant in the conflicts the RAF found itself.

Perhaps the biggest contribution the Lincoln had to the RAF was to provide a design basis for the far more successful Avro Shackleton series of maritime patrol and airborne early warning aircraft the latter of which remained in RAF service until 1991. Role: Strategic Bomber Crew: 7 (pilot, flight engineer/co-pilot, navigator, wireless operator, front gunner/bomb aimer, dorsal and rear gunners) Powerplant: 4 × Rolls-Royce Merlin 85 V piston engine, 1,750 hp each Maximum speed: 319 mph at 18,800ft Cruise speed: 215 mph at 20,000 ft Range: 2,930 miles empty. 1,470 miles with full bombload.

Service ceiling: 30,500 ft (9,296 m) Rate of climb: 800 ft/min (245 m/min) Length: 78 ft 3½ in (23.86 m) Wingspan: 120 ft (36.58 m) Height: 17 ft 3½ in (5.27 m) Wing area: 1,421 ft² (132.01 m²) Empty weight: 43,400 lb (19,686 kg) Loaded weight: 75,000 lb (34,020 kg) Maximum take-off weight: 82,000 lb November 15, 2014 The Blackburn Beverely was a high wing transport aircraft designed to operate in the most austere locations throughout the British sphere of influence in the 1950s and 1960s. Its somewhat ungainly appearance was the result of its unique internal layout that was designed to maximise its carrying options with a compartment located in the tail boom for additional passenger seats and for use in dropping paratroopers.

The aircraft was one of the few large aircraft designed in the late 1940s to have a fixed undercarriage. This reflected its requirement to operate from rough and semi-prepared airstrips with the undercarriage being very sturdy and resilient to the hard landings it could expect under these conditions. Power came from four Bristol Centaurus 18-cylinder rotary engines fitted with reverse pitch propellers each developing 2,850hp each. This was sufficient to pull the Beverley along at a comfortable 173mph and to a top speed of 238mph with a service ceiling of 16,000ft. The boom section could carry up to 36 people on rearward facing seats or 30 fully equipped paratroopers. The seats were positioned this way as it was deemed safer for the occupants if the aircraft crashed during landing or take-off. Interestingly, RAF Comet transports were configured this way also but it was unlikely they would be expected to operate off the kinds of airstrips that the Beverley would be expected to. The main freight bay could be configured to carry another 94 people if needed or alternatively a wide variety of heavy equipment could be carried.

Access to the cargo area was through two large removable clamshell doors at the rear beneath the tail boom. In the paratrooper insertion role the aircraft could unload troops through these doors while the paratroopers in the tailboom jumped through a hatch in the floor. During the course of it’s career Beverley’s carried trucks, fuel drums, drilling equipment, helicopters and disassembled aircraft including the fuselage of a Canberra bomber. The ungainly looking aircraft entered service with the RAF’s No.47 Squadron on the 1st March 1956 and eventually a total of 47 aircraft would serve across five squadrons plus an Operational Conversion Unit (OCU) providing crew training for the type.

No.30 Squadron (April 1957 – September 1967) No.34 Squadron (October 1960 – January 1968) No.47 Squadron (March 1956 – October 1967) No.53 Squadron (February 1957 – June 1963) No.84 Squadron (May 1958 – September 1967) No.242 OCU (???1957 – ???1967) During the course of its career the Beverley changed very little. A single aircraft, XB249, was retained by Blackburn for a series of tests that included the fitting of Rocket Assisted Take Off (RATO) bottles to reduce the take off distance even further but these were never fitted operationally. The aircraft primarily served in the Middle and Far East theatres where its rough field performance was essential. A regular location for the Beverley to operate out of was RAF Khormaksar in Aden where it was tasked with resupplying local garrisons; an extremely dangerous task given the poor runway facilities the heavy aircraft often encountered.

In these areas the aircraft was painted in a sand/brown scheme but with the cockpit area painted white in an effort to keep the internal temperature down for the pilots. The Beverley also has the distinction of being the only RAF aircraft to have flown missions during (but not in support of) the Vietnam War when aircraft from No.34 Squadron flew humanitarian supplies into South Vietnam following heavy flooding in the region. When asked by their USAF counterparts what tactics the RAF would use to avoid getting fired on by the Viet Cong forces they are reported to have responded that since the Viet Cong have never seen anything as ugly as the Beverley before they will probably spend so long wondering how it can fly that they wont have time to shoot it down. This kind of remark was actually meant with a lot of affection. The aircraft was finally retired in 1967 being replaced by Andovers in some cases and C-130 Hercules in others. The retirement came as the RAF’s commitments to the last corners of the Empire also came to an end and so no real replacement aircraft with the same capabilities was sought.

Crew: six (two pilots, flight engineer, navigator, signaller, air quartermaster) Payload: 44,000 lb (20,000 kg) for 200 mi (322 km Length: 99 ft 5 in (30.3 m) Wingspan: 162 ft (49.4 m) Height: 38 ft 9 in (11.8 m) Wing area: 2,916 sq ft (270.9 m²) Empty weight: 79,234 lb (35,950 kg) Loaded weight: 82,100 lb (37,240 kg) Max.

takeoff weight: 135,000 lb (61,235 kg) Powerplant: 4 × Bristol Centaurus 173 18-cylinder radial engines, 2,850 hp (2,130 kW) each Performance Maximum speed: 238 mph (208 kn, 383 km/h) Cruise speed: 173 mph (150 kn, 278 km/h) at 8,000 ft (2,400 m) Range: 1,300 mi (1130 nmi, 2092 km) with standard 29,000 lb (13,154 kg) payload Service ceiling: 16,000 ft (4,900 m) Rate of climb: 760 ft/min (3.9 m/s) Wing loading: 28.2 lb/ft² (137 kg/m²) Power/mass: 0.138 hp/lb (228 W/kg) Takeoff roll: 1,340 ft (410 m) Landing

 roll: 990 ft (300 m November 9, 2014 The Gloster Javelin was a tailed delta winged all-weather fighter that served in the Royal Air Force from 1956 to 1968.

It emerged as a result of Operational Requirement OR.227 which outlined the performance the aircraft was to have. It was to be capable of achieving 525 knots in level flight at an altitude of 40,000ft and would feature a radar set from the outset (most nightfighters to that point had radar fitted later such as the Gloster Meteor). Armament comprised of the standard quadruple 30mm cannons which was how nearly all fighters in the RAF were equipped towards the end of the war as this was seen as being the best balance between hitting power and weight considerations. More revolutionary however was the equipping of four air-to-air missiles. Gloster produced a delta winged design which was becoming quite fashionable in the West in the late 1940s thanks in no small part to captured German technology. Very quickly Gloster realized that their new aircraft was going to be a heavy design and this saw the engines changed from Rolls-Royce Avons to Rolls-Royce Sapphires. The prototype aircraft called the GA.5 first flew on November 26th 1951 but testing proved extremely troublesome with severe vibration troubles as a result of the hight T-tail.

This would be an ongoing problem the engineers at Gloster would have to address but not before the death of one of the test pilots. Gloster pressed on however and when the RAF settled on the design the aircraft entered service in 1956. Nevertheless the aircraft was continually developed throughout its life as experience grew. VARIANTS Apart from the trainer variant all fighter versions of the Javelin had the designation FAW (Fighter All Weather). FAW.1 The original production version was powered by Sapphire Sa.6 engines rated at 8,000 lbf (35.6 kN thrust) each. Radar came in the form of the British AI.17 that could be used to train the four 30 mm ADEN cannons in the wings. The tailplane was electrically-operated but this proved unsatisfactory. 40 were produced to this standard but because many of the aircraft’s handling problems had not yet been ironed out they were flown under a plethora of restrictions. FAW.2 The FAW.2 saw the replacement of the British AI.17 radar with the more capable AI-22 (the British version of the American APQ-43 system).

The fitting of the new radar required the nosecone to be enlarged giving the new version a tubbier look at the front. Power to the tail was now hydraulic and a total of 30 were manufactured. T 3 With there being no real training aircraft capable of simulating the new sophisticated aircraft a dual-control trainer version was produced. This dispensed with the radar and included a bulged canopy for improved instructor visibility. The loss of the radar seriously upset the balance of the aircraft necessitating a lengthened fuselage and all moving tailplane to compensate. The aircraft retained the four cannons as its primary armament but had to be trained in the traditional method with there being no radar. The T.3 served with No.228 Operational Conversion Unit at RAF Leeming. FAW.4 The FAW.4 was essentially a FAW.1 with the original AI.17 radar set but featured vortex generators on the wings for improved stall characteristics; something that had plagued the aircraft since the prototype as a result of the high T-tail. Additionally the all-moving tailplane of the T.3 was fitted for improved control at higher speeds. It was one of the first widely distributed variants serving in a total of six squadrons.

FAW 5 The FAW.5 was a FAW.4 but with a revised wing design that allowed it carry more fuel thuis extending range for interception missions over the North Sea if necessary. More importantly however it was the first version to finally have provision for four missile pylons. Although a step closer to meeting the requirement in which the aircraft was born the pylons were never fitted operationally. FAW 6 33 FAW.2s with the American AI.22 radar were reworked to feature the new wing of the FAW.5 and this produced the FAW,6. Again the aircraft now had the provision for four air-to-air missiles but these were never fitted in service. FAW.7 The FAW.7 was the mark where the aircraft finally matured into the aircraft it was meant to be. Introducing new Rolls-Royce Sapphire Sa.7 engines with 11,000 lbf (48.9 kN) thrust each, a powered rudder and extended rear fuselage the aircraft dispensed with two of the four 30mm ADEN guns that had been in previous marks but finally added four Firestreak air-to-air missiles.

A FAW.7 conducted the type’s first missile firing in June 1960. A large number of FAW.7s were ordered but the early introduction of the FAW.8 version meant a large number were delivered directly in to storage. FAW 8 Now that the Javelin finally had its long overdue missile armament the next step was to fit the Sapphire Sa.7 engines with reheat raising thrust to 12,300 lbf (54.7 kN). This made it a more capable interceptor at high altitude but at take off the fuel pump couldn’t deliver fuel fast enough to power the afterburner and resulted in an actual loss of power. Therefore the pilot was restricted to only using reheat at 20,000ft and above. Aerodynamically the aircraft featured a new “drooped” wing leading edge and auto-stabilizer that went a long way to improving handling. FAW 9 The FAW.9 was the definitive version of the aircraft and a total of 118 FAW.7s were converted to this status by fitting the revised wing and engines of the FAW.8.

First flying in 1959 the Javelin was already beginning to show its age compared to the new supersonic designs being developed in the US and the USSR. It was still a potent bomber destroyer however but retained the Firestreak missile which was being replaced by the more capable Red Top air-to-air missile on the Lightning and Royal Navy’s Sea Vixen. (GALLERY) Gloster Javelin FAW.9 XH903 at the Jet Age Museum, Gloucester FAW.9R 44 FAW.9s were modified to undertake the relatively new practice of air-to-air refuelling by the fitting of a large refuelling probe which perhaps appropriately looked more like a Javelin than the aircraft itself. Later the aircraft were modified again to carry underwing drop tanks extending operational range further. October 18, 2014 The DH.91 Albatross is one of the most attractive aircraft to have ever served with the Royal Air Force yet it has largely been forgotten thanks in no small part to the fact only two ever served in RAF markings. The DH.91 started life thanks to an Air Ministry requirement for a transatlantic mail plane.

De Havilland opted for a sleek looking monoplane design powered by four De Havilland Gypsy Twelve engines each of which produced 525hp. In order to keep weight down much of the aircraft was constructed out of wood with only weight supporting spars being metal. The wooden body was constructed of plywood and balsa in a sandwich configuration (ply-balsa-ply). De Havilland repeated this method of aircraft construction with the Mosquito which became one of the finest aircraft of World War II. Although born out of a requirement for a mail plane De Havilland was quick to realize the potential as an airliner and designed a 22 seat passenger version. Of the seven airframes completed two were built as mail planes and the rest were in the passenger configuration. The aircraft entered service with Imperial Airways (later BOAC) in 1938 but after less than a year the Second World War broke out. This would be fatal to De Havilland’s ambitions with the type. The Air Ministry wanted warplanes and De Havilland was briefly committed to building frontline aircraft of competing companies.

As the war turned against Britain and France in 1940 De Havilland actually found itself building combat versions of its Tiger Moth trainer to help repel an expected German invasion. Under these conditions the Albatross was effectively dead in terms of production. For the Albatross the war brought a change of owner for the two mail planes as they were impressed in to RAF service as communication aircraft. Their main function was to act as couriers between Britain and Iceland under the banner of No.271 Squadron. This was a tough job for the two aircraft and their crews with severe weather, rough landing conditions and the threat of German aircraft and surface ships being a constant worry. Ultimately it would prove too much for the aircraft and both were lost in landing accidents at Reykjavik; the first on the 11th August 1941 and the second one on the 7th April 1942. Unfortunately none of the seven aircraft built survive today.

Statistics Crew: 4 (pilot, copilot, radio operator and steward) Length: 71 ft 6 in (21.80 m) Wingspan: 105 ft 0 in (32.01 m) Height: 22 ft 3 in (6.78 m) Wing area: 1,078 ft² (100.2 m²) Powerplant: 4 × de Havilland Gipsy Twelve (525 hp each) Maximum speed: 195 kn (225 mph, 362 km/h) Cruise speed: 183 kn (210 mph, 338 km/h) Range: 904 nmi, (1,040 mi, 1,675 km) Service ceiling: 17,900 ft (5,455 m) September 4, 2014 (wp.scn.ru) Given the success of the Spitfire in World War II many people had high hopes for Supermarine in the post war years that they could follow up this success but with a jet powered design.

The Swift can trace its origins to the Type 510 which first flew in 1948 and after a series of redesigns the first true Swift F.1 was ordered in to production in 1951 at the height of the Korean War. Experience in Korea against the MiG-15 had shown the Swift would struggle with its unreliable engine and it’s troublesome handling. In fact it would not have even entered production in its F.1 guise had it not been for the government’s insistence that a British swept wing jet fighter be put in to service as soon as possible. Efforts were made to address these problems in the succeeding versions. The F.2 featured an additional pair of ADEN guns bringing the total to four but this exacerbated the problems further with the weapons’ additional weight. To give the engine more guts compared to the MiG-15 a primitive afterburner was fitted to the Rolls-Royce Avon engine producing the F.3. This was never adopted operationally but served as an instructional airframe for ground crews to gain experience with afterburner technology.

The afterburner equipped Swift F.4 did enter operational service with the RAF and featured a number of improvements but the aircraft’s handling was still quite lacklustre especially at high altitudes. By 1957 the concept of using the Swift as a fighter was falling out of favour especially as the Hawker Hunter (an aircraft ordered in to production as a fail-safe against the Swift which everyone wrongly assumed would be superior) was proving a far more vice-less and more capable design. Therefore the aircraft’s nose was lengthened to accommodate cameras giving birth to the Swift FR.5 tactical reconnaissance aircraft. Many would argue that this version exonerated the design as it proved quite adept in the role and is best remembered for it even winning a major NATO reconnaissance competition in 1959 against aircraft from every member nation. The FR.5 equipped three squadrons in RAF Germany in preparation for a Soviet advance across the Rhine. Two further variants were built but neither entered frontline service. One was an unarmed reconnaissance version designated PR.6 but was cancelled because of development problems with the engine. Perhaps the most optimistic variant was the Swift F.7 which featured an air intercept radar in the nose and was armed with four Fairey Fireflash air-to-air missiles.

Neither the F.7 nor the Fireflash entered service but both went a long way to developing the technology that would lead to the Firestreak and Red Top missiles. Swift armed with Fireflash missiles This was never a great aircraft and will forever sit in the shadow of the near-universally loved Hawker Hunter. It did provide a useful low level reconnaissance capability however and would lay the foundation for a number of more successful ventures in aerospace defence technology. It did make a brief cameo in the 1954 British film Conflict of Wings where it visits an air base in Norfolk that is the setting for the movie. The pilot of the Swift openly mocks the home squadrons De Havilland Vampires calling them antiques compared to his new mount. The last aircraft served as ground instructional airframes in the early 70s. (SOURCE: Aviastar.org) July 22, 2014 The Fairey Battle was a single engined light bomber that was operational at the start of the Second World War. As such it played a large although somewhat unsuccessful role in the RAF’s efforts to blunt the advance of the German forces.

The aircraft was conceived in the days when there was a belief that bombers could be built fast enough to outrun enemy fighters. Unfortunately every advance that made bombers faster could also be applied to fighters and so the fighter always had an advantage. It was however an improvement over the previous Hawker Hart and Hind biplanes that it replaced. Power came from the same Rolls-Royce Merlin engine as the Spitfire and Hurricane but was heavier and therefore not as fast (top speed was 257mph) or nimble. The aircraft had just two guns; a single .303 machine gun in the starboard wing for straffing and a single .303 in the rear of the cockpit for defence. For offensive operations the aircraft could carry four 250lb bombs internally and two 500lb bombs on external hardpoints. The aircraft has been mired by the savagery at which the Germans destroyed them. The aircraft proved disappointing but recently military historians have put more blame on the way the aircraft was used rather than the design itself. They were used as level day bombers which left them incredibly vulnerable.

Had the aircraft been used more like the remarkably similar and infinitely more successful Il-2 Shturmovik of the Soviet Air Force then it might have proven more useful. Before it was withdrawn from frontline service in 1940 however it did achieve its greatest claim to fame – this was the first RAF aircraft to shoot down a German plane in the war when on 20th September 1939, a Luftwaffe Bf109 fighter was shot down by Sgt. F. Letchard during a a patrol over France. Role: Light Day Bomber RAF's 'celebrity' Canberra bomber to be restored by Vulcan team - BT RAF's 'celebrity' Canberra bomber to be restored by Vulcan team A record-breaking jet from Britain's golden age of flight is to be restored to the skies by the team who put a Vulcan bomber back in the air. Share this Print this story A record-breaking jet from Britain's golden age of flight is to be restored to the skies by the team who put a Vulcan bomber back in the air. The Vulcan To The Sky Trust has revealed plans to refit a Canberra, the RAF's first jet bomber, which once held the record for the highest flight.

Guests gathered at the plane's home at Coventry Airport to hear about the restoration of WK163 - described as a "celebrity" of Britain's post-war jet engine age. The project will need public fundraising but the plan is to have the plane back in the air by 2018, the RAF's centenary year. The trust has built up considerable expertise in resurrecting heritage aircraft after restoring the Vulcan nuclear bomber XH558 to flight in 2008. Robert Pleming, who led the Vulcan restoration team and is now trust chief executive, said: "WK163 embodies so much that is remarkable about British courage and innovation in the jet age - qualities that she can continue to inspire in us all. "I am thrilled to announce trust plans to restore and fly her for the British public, as we did with XH558, with an education programme around her to inspire new generations of engineers and aviators." WK163 was at the cutting edge of aviation development and in August 1957 broke the world altitude record by flying at 70,308ft (21,430 metres) - more than 13 miles above ground level.

The flight was a successful test of the experimental Double Scorpion rocket motor developed by British scientists and jury-rigged in the jet's bomb-bay. WK163 was always used for testing and later air shows but last flew in 2007, when it was grounded by a bird-strike. Trustees have already assembled the engineers and spare parts including six engines needed to get the project off the ground. The fuselage will be stripped down this summer for a detailed inspection of the work and costs involved, before the planned refit begins next year. Aviation enthusiasts will be able to book tours to see WK163's restoration taking place at Robin Hood Airport Doncaster Sheffield. The trust's engineering director Andrew Edmondson said: "This is a great opportunity for enthusiasts to see another fascinating example of British aviation engineering completely disassembled, to explore the technology and learn how she works, and to follow the restoration in fascinating detail." Following the Shoreham air show disaster last year in which 11 people were killed after a vintage jet crashed, the restoration team has said aircraft safety remains at the centre of the work. Former chief inspector of air accidents Ken Smart is among the key people overseeing the project.

He said: "I'll be looking at the safety aspect and convincing the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) this is a project under the tightest control. "I saw during my time with the Air Accidents Investigation Branch some projects that were not well managed, but I am glad to say the Vulcan project was extremely well-managed." The 70-year-old, from Southampton, added: "This aircraft is a sound structure, but it needs to be made airworthy. Everything will be checked but the basic airframe is pretty sound." Mr Smart said the Avro-Woodford-built English Electric Canberra B2 was based for a time at RAF Pershore, Worcestershire, along with other testing and "oddball" prototype aircraft, where he worked as an engineer. He added: "It was a celebrity - even among the other experimental aircraft." In 1959, the plane was transferred to the Royal Radar Establishment, and was used in developing infra-red line-scan technology to identify camouflaged ground targets. Once airborne, WK163 will be the only one of its type operating in Europe. Canberra first entered service in 1951, after design began in 1944.

Its mainstay bomber role was eventually taken over by other aircraft but it continued in a reconnaissance role, seeing service in Afghanistan, before being retired by the RAF in 2006. The aircraft was a hugely successful design and ended up in service with air forces across the world. The US space agency Nasa still flies three of the American-built WB-57 versions to carry out satellite testing and calibration. The trust's latest project follows its £25 million refit of XH558, which carried out dozens of successful flights at air shows up and down the UK before its final journey last year. The Vulcan, which saw action on a long-range conventional bombing run during the Falklands War, is now displayed at Robin Hood Airport, having been retired. Further information about the trust's work and updates on its latest project can be found at Share this

Question: What was the RAF's first jet powered bomber?
Answer: (English Electric) Canberra